Whether you are a person of faith or not, you are no doubt encountering difficulties in navigating this ever changing world. It isn't the world of my youth, and definitely not the world of my parent's youth. Many of us are nostalgic for our past. It also seems like the divide between people is getting larger, magnified by social media of course.
If I may be so bold, may I say that I believe that there has always been times of good and times of bad. Not to underplay the the brokenness of this world, but being a student of history would help us gain more perspective.
The Bible has a lot to say about good and evil, but I'd like to jump directly to what it says about how to navigate this world. We can join all of the crusades and organizations and protests and committees we want to or live away from civilization like a hermit, but I believe that God wants us to live in this world, as peacefully as we can, but following HIS WILL. The problem is, we can be confused what that will is depending on our perspectives and cultural upbringings.
I spent some time reading over Ephesians 4:17-5:2, which, to me, clearly states the will of God for our lives that is imperative to repair our brokenness (because ultimately it is the change in us that will change the world one person at a time)…regardless if we are facing a pandemic, a world war, a revolution, or a military coup.
I will paraphrase what the scriptures say about The Will of God but please read them for yourself:
-We are excluded from the life of God because of ignorance and a hardness of our hearts
-We have given ourselves over to sensuality, practicing every impurity with greediness
-We must lay aside our old self that is being corrupted with the lusts of deceit
-We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds and put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God which is righteousness, holiness, and truth
-We must lay aside falsehood and speak truth to each other
-We can be angry, and yet not sin. Do not let the sun go down on our anger.
-We must steal no longer
-We must all labor (work) with our own hands that which is GOOD, so that we can share with those who are in need
-We must let no unwholesome words proceed from our mouths but only what is edifying. We should not let any filthiness, silly talk, and coarse jesting proceed from our mouths but give thanks for all things.
-Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice be put away from us
-Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as Christ has forgiven us
-We must be imitators of God as beloved children walking in love
-We cannot be immoral, impure, covetous, or idolaters
-We must not grieve the Holy Spirit
-We must be careful how we walk, making the most of our time, because the days are evil
-We must not get drunk, for that is dissipation
-We must not be led by the ignorant who try to deceive us with empty words...they are the sons of disobedience and their ways lead to destruction
-We were all formerly in darkness, but now, as believers in Christ, we delight in the Light of the Lord...and the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth...so we must walk as children of light (CHILDREN OF THE DAY)
-We should speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ , even to the Father, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ
SO...how do we accomplish all of that??? Impossible on our own. We were born in sin and struggle our whole lives with sin...none of us are good..no not one...only the blood of Christ can redeem us from sin and only with the help of Christ can we navigate our lives in this fallen world. So be of good cheer for HOPE, GRACE, and MERCY are at hand.